Menu Plan for the week

 It's Menu Planning time! When I make my menus, I usually have so much *extra* (as in strategically planned leftovers) that I often don't need another "meal plan" for an extra week or so. Especially with church activities and other unexpected nights out of the house for work or for fun.  How oh how do I meal plan? It's a question I get asked a lot. First, I look to see what I already have on hand. I have all these:

     Since I am one busy mama, I buy these kitchen tested and super delicious mixes often and I have quite the cupboard full. You can get them here. Everything we've tried my family loves and meal prep is quick and simple. This may not work for you, but it has done wonders for me. I can take the instruction labels from the mixes and head to the grocery store. A quick and easy grocery list. Or I go HERE to pick a menu and I can add any recipe I like to a menu and print out the shopping list right there. I used the "Say MMM" app on Evernote to copy and paste the list to my Evernote account for a shopping list that stays live and syncs with my phone, ipad, and computer. These are 2 great apps to check out for menu planning, to-do lists, etc... Let me know how you like them, or if you have other "techy" ways to meal plan and make grocery lists. 

Menu:  

 Stroganoff

  Season and Steam Fajitas

 Cacciatorre

  Season and Steam Broccoli Beef

  Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

  Panko Crusted Parmesan Casserole 

Grocery List for menu plan Jan 16 (Created on Evernote with Say MMM integration).

Bread & Grains

Flour tortillas [6 large]

Pasta

Cans & Jars

Can stewed tomatoes (1 1 15 ounce) [1 can]

Can tomato sauce (8 ounce) [1 can]

Diced tomatoes [1 1 15 ounce]

Green olives [1 oz.]

Low sodium cream of mushroom soup (1 10.75 ounce) [1 can]

Dairy

Egg

Shredded Parmesan cheese [1 oz.]

Shredded cheddar cheese [1 oz.]

Shredded mozzarella cheese [8 oz.]

Sour cream

Sour cream

Frozen

Mixed vegetables [6 oz.]

Fruits & Veggies

Bell pepper

Fresh broccoli

Green bell pepper [1 '' 1 medium]

Jalapenos

Lettuce [19 oz.]

White onion [1/2 medium]

Meat & Seafood

Beef stew meat [1-1/2 pounds]

Boneless, skinless chicken [1-1/2 pounds]

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (. 3 pounds) [6]

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts [1-1/2 pounds]

Sirloin steak [1-1/2 pounds]

Sirloin steak [1-1/2 pounds]

Sauces & Condiments

Guacamole

Check if you need:

Canola oil [2 oz.]

Guess who is losing the baby weight?

The baby is five months old and the feast-ivities of the holidays are over. The hubby and I want to get back in our pre-julia jeans and enjoy our thirties as fit not frumpy. We will only get older, so why waste our young family days as flabby?

I did Jenny Craig and was close to my goal weight when we got our surprise of kiddo #3.
We are doing the online Weight Watcher program. Hopefully my milk supply won't go down and the extra points for nursing mommies is pretty sweet.

Our first week on the program is tomorrow (confession I have been signed up for three months and stopped tracking after the first few days) and we both feel much more energized by our healthy food choices this week. We are weighing each other in tomorrow and tracking our weight on our bathroom mirror with an expo marker.  This is the first time my husband has done weight watchers with me and it is so much more motivating.

I will keep you posted on how it goes!
Sent from my Motorola Smartphone on the Now Network from Sprint!

Tips for Pregnant Women in Youth Ministry

Last year at this time...look what was cooking!

     There are youth workers, some of them are female. At some point these female youth workers become moms. So… how do you manage that?  Well I’ve done this a few times and after recently being pregnant with baby #3 after multiple miscarriages I made a list of tips.  I am very familiar with  being a youth worker who finds herself face to face with a positive pregnancy test and the joys and fears in that moment.

     First, I have to say to the rest of you non-pregnant or not yet pregnant youth workers is this: If the smell of corn nuts, stories about poop and other gross things make you nauseous…try being pregnant! Most youth workers can handle their fair share of grossness.  Pregnant? Well it’s a whole other story.  Yes,  you are stuck  in a room full of middle school students where half the room permeates with the aroma of corn nuts.   How do you make it through that? Here are a few tips for keeping it together when you feel like running out of the youth room as quickly as possible:

1) Keep gum with you at all times. Make sure the gum is a flavor that smells great and taste yummy to you. When you start to feel queasy, pop in some gum. It truly helps! Suckers also do wonders. My favorite is jolly rancher pink lemonade flavored suckers.

2) If you are not up front teaching or leading at the moment, try and place your self around students who actually smell good. Avoid the ones who are eating or have an unpleasant aroma (we all have some of those in every youth group!)

3) Delegate as much as you can ! If someone else is leading upfront, you have more opportunities for frequent bathroom breaks and trips outside for fresh air.

4) Eat! If you have an empty stomach, you will feel worse. Make sure to eat your regular meals and keep some granola bars in your purse.

5) Keep bottled water handy. Have some in your office. Place an extra hidden stash in your youth room (that your other staff can’t claim!). I went to grab a water bottle only to see my case empty and the last bottle labeled with a sharpie sitting on a near by sofa with an intern’s name on it! So label all the bottles with your name! No one will knowingly take from a pregnant lady.

These are a few quick tips for handling pregnancy on those frequent Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights in a youth room filled with students.  I will post other tips in future posts on things related to being a pregnant  or having a baby and being a youth worker.

2 days before baby #3

Post Christmas Blahs